Gas Leak Displaces 28 In Hagerstown, Md.

HAGERSTOWN, Md. (AP) - Authorities in Hagerstown say 28 people have been evacuated from their homes due to a natural gas leak.

A city spokeswoman said early Tuesday afternoon that the residents were moved to a nearby nursing home for shelter from frigid weather.

Spokeswoman Erin Wolfe says residents were displaced from eight structures, mostly apartment buildings, in an area south of the downtown business district. She says Columbia Gas is on the scene to shut off the gas and make repairs.

Wolfe says the leak is in a commercial building in the 200 block of Frederick Street. That street is also known as Alternate U.S. 40.

A fire official tells The Herald-Mail newspaper that the leak was reported in an apparently vacant 2 1/2-story duplex.